91Èȱ¬

England pace bowler James Anderson has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa in Durban on 26 December because of injury.

Anderson, 33, has been struggling with tightness in his right calf muscle.

England's leading Test wicket-taker was rested for the warm-up match against South Africa A this week and has bowled just five overs on the tour.

Two from Steven Finn, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan or Mark Footitt are set to join Stuart Broad in England's attack.

Anderson played in all three Tests against Pakistan in the UAE over the autumn, where he took 13 wickets, but missed the final two Tests of the home Ashes series against Australia with a side strain.

Broad took eight wickets in the first innings of the fourth Ashes Test, a match England won by an innings and 78 runs.

"From Stuart's point of view we've got an obvious replacement as leader of the attack there and I'm sure he would show that he could handle that as he did against Australia in the fourth Test," said head coach Trevor Bayliss.

"It's always a concern if your leading bowler or leading batter misses a game, but the last time Jimmy missed one we did pretty well, so you never know."

Anderson, who had scans on his injury on Tuesday morning, was at a training session with his team-mates on Thursday but kicked a football with bowling coach Ottis Gibson instead of jogging with the rest of the squad.

He will do some light fitness work over the next few days before increasing the intensity of his workout to determine whether he can play in the second match of the four-Test series, which begins on 2 January.

Having experienced soreness in his calf since the start of the tour, his only spell of bowling came in a 13-a-side match against a South Africa Invitational XI last week.